With the increasing awareness of world energy shortage and increasing energy prices, consumers are increasingly concerned about the environment and the environmental impacts of their purchases and use of electrically powered products. As a result, energy-consuming products, and electronic products in particular are increasingly being made to operate with improved energy efficiency, made possible in part by the use of standby and off power modes. Many electronic products that are connected to a power source continue to consume power even though some or all functions are not being used.
Both voluntary and mandatory power-regulation standards have forced manufacturers to meet minimum power-efficiency standards or risk losing customers—and, sometimes, markets. New versions of standards and new mandatory governmental regulations call for higher efficiencies. For example, a joint effort by the US Environmental Protection Agency and the US Department of Energy provides a voluntary-compliance program under the service mark ENERGY STAR® related to its promotion of energy conservation and the production of energy-efficient products. Individual states and other countries now also have regulations regarding energy use of products. These regulations are becoming more stringent and commercially affect the consumption of power by operating devices, including the consumption of power in reduced-power modes such as standby, sleep and off modes of operation.